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I have no children.
I have no children any more. Last night we celebrated my son's 18th birthday, and as I told him, "You can now drink, drive, and vote. Not necessarilly in that order."
His sister is 21, and away teaching in New Zealand, so it isn't quite the family affair it could be, but we'll have another dinner when she gets back, I guess.
Looking back, there were times I thought that I'd never have adult offspring. A parent's life is one of worry, and there was always something to be frightened off, from the time he emerged with his cord wrapped around his neck to the moment he disappeared off on the roads by himself behind the wheel of the family car.
He was a wonderfully cute and cheerful child, always smiling, always a sunny disposition. Somewhere along the way that changed, and when we got into computer games, there would be storms and tears - "This game is impossible!" - for a day, followed by a day of blessed silence, and then the clamour for a new game, because all the secrets had been found and the player was now lord of the universe.
Harry Potter was the key that unlocked the reading door, overcoming the dyslexia. Frustrated with sharing the reading with a parent, one family hoiliday he took the latest Harry Potter book off and explored ahead by himself. Not quite the bookworm I was, but he does OK.
He'll never be a scholar, I'm afraid, but there are other things in life. There's certainly enough brains in there for him to succeed at whatever niche he finds. When I think back to myself at his age, I'm amazed that I could have fathered a son who is so much more confident and articulate than I was. I didn't have my first beer until I was well and truly nineteen, and the notion of having a circle of female friends was something quite unthinkable to a painfully shy and introverted teenager.
And here I am, a happy man, a family man, toasting the success of my grown son.
Oh yeah. The Prime Minister is somewhere in the background. We picked the same restaurant on the same night. I've got to say that the food was delicious and the service superb. Perhaps still a little chilly in September to dine outside, enjoying the view over Lake Burley Griffin, or even to walk there and back as we had planned, but we had a grand time all the same.
His sister is 21, and away teaching in New Zealand, so it isn't quite the family affair it could be, but we'll have another dinner when she gets back, I guess.
Looking back, there were times I thought that I'd never have adult offspring. A parent's life is one of worry, and there was always something to be frightened off, from the time he emerged with his cord wrapped around his neck to the moment he disappeared off on the roads by himself behind the wheel of the family car.
He was a wonderfully cute and cheerful child, always smiling, always a sunny disposition. Somewhere along the way that changed, and when we got into computer games, there would be storms and tears - "This game is impossible!" - for a day, followed by a day of blessed silence, and then the clamour for a new game, because all the secrets had been found and the player was now lord of the universe.
Harry Potter was the key that unlocked the reading door, overcoming the dyslexia. Frustrated with sharing the reading with a parent, one family hoiliday he took the latest Harry Potter book off and explored ahead by himself. Not quite the bookworm I was, but he does OK.
He'll never be a scholar, I'm afraid, but there are other things in life. There's certainly enough brains in there for him to succeed at whatever niche he finds. When I think back to myself at his age, I'm amazed that I could have fathered a son who is so much more confident and articulate than I was. I didn't have my first beer until I was well and truly nineteen, and the notion of having a circle of female friends was something quite unthinkable to a painfully shy and introverted teenager.
And here I am, a happy man, a family man, toasting the success of my grown son.
Oh yeah. The Prime Minister is somewhere in the background. We picked the same restaurant on the same night. I've got to say that the food was delicious and the service superb. Perhaps still a little chilly in September to dine outside, enjoying the view over Lake Burley Griffin, or even to walk there and back as we had planned, but we had a grand time all the same.
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You have every reason to be proud. Raising a happy, confident, well-adjusted child to adulthood is no mean feat. Well done, Mum and Dad.
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;-))
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You were in the same room as Johnnie H?! What did you throw at him?
:)
Happy Birthday, Sky-Son!!!
Re: Happy Birthday, Sky-Son!!!
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happy Birthhday!
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Your children will always be your children no matter how old they become. Adults maybe but still "our daughter" or "our son" x 3.
The pain, the anguish and the joy continues - multiplied ten-fold when you have grandchildren.